United and US Air have joined American in charging $15 for the first bag. Two bags round trip now cost $80. One group on a 500 mile trip actually selected a driver to drive all the bags back and forth. If the plane left from LGA - the driver probably got there first.
Good news for us – international flights (on the same ticket) are exempt.
In an earlier post I calculated the cost to lose a suitcase. Its pretty cheap, actually.
Whats next? Pay toilets? No, water. Check back later today for my post entitled “Water on the Plane – An Arbitrage Opportunity”
2008 was the year airlines started charging for everything – in flight entertainment, luggage for soldiers, legroom and more luggage. Here is a humorous view from Derrie-Air and our attempt at getting feedback from the industry.
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Its really not so bad. Less bags to check, less time to wait. Just forget about space in the overhead compartment.
[...] $15 luggage charge – whats next? water? YUP [...]
I travel quite a bit to visit colleges and boarding schools throughout the US. In order to avoid the luggage fees, I try to pack lightly and take a carry on bag with me. But I wonder what the airlines are doing with all the empty cargo space in the belly of the plane. Are they carrying commercial cargo now that they have the space ? It may be a way to beef up their earnings. I don’t have a problem with that as long as the cargo is well screened before it’s put on the plane.
Claire Law, M.S. Educational Consultant
Educational Avenues
http://www.eduave.com
[...] sales lately on domestic flights. To save money, airlines charged for everything – from pillows to bags to water to food to movies. That is here to [...]